* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON [Winter Weather News Conference ] EVERYONE. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US HERE TODAY. I'M SPENCER K CRONK AUSTIN CITY MANAGER, AND WE WANTED TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE AS WE CONTINUE WITH OUR RECOVERY EFFORTS FROM LAST WEEK'S DEVASTATING WINTER WEATHER EVENT. I AM HAPPY TO REPORT THAT WE CONTINUE TO MAKE PROGRESS, UH, OVER THESE LAST FEW DAYS. AND AUSTIN ENERGY LEADERSHIP GAVE US A DETAILED, UH, OVERVIEW AT THIS MORNING'S WORK SESSION WITH OUR CITY COUNCIL. I KNOW OUR CREWS ARE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO ENSURE THAT ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS GET BACK ONLINE AND HAVE POWER RESTORED, AND WE WILL BE HEARING AN UPDATE FROM GENERAL MANAGER JACKIE SERGEANT IN A MINUTE. WE ALSO WANTED TO PROVIDE UPDATES TODAY, UH, FROM AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY. WE HAVE DIRECTOR KEN SNIPES HERE, AUSTIN PUBLIC WORKS, INTERIM DIRECTOR JAMES SNOW, AND AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT. UH, INTERIM DIRECTOR RICHARD MENDOZA, UH, WILL BE PROVIDING UPDATES AS WELL. AND NOW I'LL PASS IT OVER TO JACKIE. SERGEANT SPENCER. GOOD AFTERNOON, JACKIE. SERGEANT AUSTIN, ENERGY GENERAL MANAGER. I'M JUST GONNA PROVIDE A FEW OF THE NUMBERS OF WHERE WE'RE AT. AND SINCE 6:00 PM YESTERDAY, MORE THAN 10,000 CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN RESTORED, AND THAT MEANS THAT MORE THAN 350,000 RESTORATIONS HAVE TAKEN PLACE SINCE THE ONSET OF THIS EVENT. CURRENTLY, WE HAVE 98.95% OF OUR CUSTOMERS WITH POWER, AND THAT'S APPROXIMATELY 500 OR 5,900 CUSTOMERS THAT STILL REMAIN, UH, WITHOUT POWER. EACH OUTAGE THAT WE'RE FINDING NOW HAS, UM, DIFFERENT NUANCES. IT COULD BE ONE CUSTOMER, IT COULD BE 40 CUSTOMERS, AND WE'RE ENTERING INTO THE SLOW, TEDIOUS, UH, PROCESS AS CREWS WORK THEIR WAY FROM THE LARGEST OR THE, AND DOWN TO THE SMALLEST AND COMPLETE THE MOST COMPLEX. THE WEATHER TODAY, AS YOU PROBABLY EXPERIENCED ON YOUR WAY OVER HERE, COULD FURTHER COMPLICATE OUR EFFORTS TO GET OUR CUSTOMERS RESTORED, BUT I WANNA ASSURE YOU THAT OUR CREWS WILL CONTINUE TO WORK AROUND THE CLOCK AS LONG AS IT'S SAFE, UNTIL EVERY CUSTOMER'S POWER IS RESTORED. THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON. MY NAME IS KEN SNIPES AND I'M THE DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY. AUSTIN RE RECOURSE RESOURCE RECOVERY STAFF ARE CURRENTLY WORKING, UH, TIRELESSLY, UH, TO COLLECT STORM DEBRIS AND TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR NORMAL SERVICES ARE ON TARGET. UH, I WANT TO THANK ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ACROSS THE CITY TO HELP THE, UH, ENTERPRISE RECOVER IN THIS EFFORT. REGULAR CURBSIDE COLLECTIONS RESUMED YESTERDAY DUE TO THE LARGE VOLUME OF MATERIALS THAT WE ARE COLLECTING. COMPOSTING COLLECTIONS MAY RUN BEHIND. PLEASE LEAVE ANY MISSED COMPOST COLLECTIONS AT THE CURBED AND WE WILL PICK IT UP. WE APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE FOR AUSTIN. TONIGHT'S CLEARING OUT THE REFRIGERATORS. PLEASE REMEMBER TO USE YOUR GREEN CART FOR COMPOST TO COMPOST SPOILED FOOD, FOOD SCRAPS, AND ANY FOOD SOILED PAPER. BE SURE TO REMOVE FOOD FROM PACKAGING BEFORE COMPOSTING. IF SPOILED FOOD CANNOT BE REMOVED FROM THE PACKAGING, PLEASE PUT IT IN THE TRASH. IT SHOULD GO INTO YOUR BROWN CART FOR ANY SPOILED FOOD THAT WOULD NOT FIT INTO YOUR, UH, INTO THESE CARTS. FOR A LIMITED TIME, THERE WILL BE NO CHARGE TO PICK UP, UH, UP TO TWO EXTRA TRACK TRASH BAGS TO SPEED UP OUR STORM DEBRIS COLLECTION EFFORTS. WE'VE INCREASED THE HELP FROM OUR CONTRACTORS AND WE NOW HAVE OVER 50 CREWS, UH, OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY COLLECTING, UH, STORM DEBRIS. THE DAMAGE IS WIDESPREAD AND EVEN WITH THE INCREASED WORKFORCE COLLECTIONS WILL TAKE TIME AT A POINT IN, UH, UH, AS A POINT OF REFERENCE, I WILL SHARE THAT DURING THE WINTER STORM OF 2021, WE RECEIVED OVER 4,900 SERVICE REQUESTS FROM CUSTOMERS IN ABOUT A MONTH OVER THIS STORM. IN JUST A FEW DAYS, WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED 14,000 SERVICE REQUESTS. IF YOU PREFER TO DROP OFF YOUR STORM DEBRIS, RATHER THAN WAIT FOR COLLECTIONS, AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY RESIDENTS MAY DROP OFF THEIR ITEMS AT HORNSBY BEND BIO SOLIDS FACILITY. AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY HAS ALSO BEEN UPDATING THIS WEBSITE DAILY WITH THE LATEST INFORMATION RELATED TO OUR SERVICES. IF YOU WANNA REACH OUT TO US OR GO TO OUR WEBSITE, IT IS AUSTIN RECYCLES.COM. STORM DEBRIS REMOVAL OPTIONS AND GUIDELINES TO HELP CUSTOMERS UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY SHOULD DO WHEN SETTING THEIR MATERIALS OUT AT THE CURB CAN BE FOUND@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV SLASH STORM DEBRIS. THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON. I'M JAMES SNOW PUBLIC WORKS INTERIM DIRECTOR ON BEHALF OF PUBLIC WORKS. I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE AGAIN FOR THEIR PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING AS OUR CREWS HAVE BEEN WORKING DILIGENTLY AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO REMOVE DEBRIS FROM THE RIGHT OF WAY. WE'VE MADE TREMENDOUS PROGRESS WITH CREWS WORKING EVERY DAY AND INTO THE EVENINGS OVER THE PAST WEEK TO REMOVE FALLEN TREES AND OTHER DEBRIS FROM THE STREETS AND FROM PUBLIC SPACES. OUR GOAL IS TO [00:05:01] MAKE THESE AREAS SAFE AND POSSIBLE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. THAT SAID, WE STILL HAVE MORE WORK AHEAD AND WE'RE COMMITTED TO MAKE SURE THE RIGHT OF WAYS ARE SAFE AND ACCESSIBLE FOR EVERYONE'S USE. MUCH LIKE OUR RESIDENTS, OUR CREWS ARE REMOVING DEBRIS FROM THE RIGHT OF WAY AND PLACING IT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD SO THAT AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY IS PART OF OUR COORDINATED EFFORT, CAN PICK IT UP. WITH THE CHANGES IN WEATHER OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T BLOCK ANY OF THE DRAINAGE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE FLOODING. SINCE THE ICE STORM STARTED, WE HAVE RECEIVED OVER 1600 SERVICE REQUESTS FOR THREE 11 COMPLETED, 964 DEBRIS REMOVALS, AND THE LAST 24 HOURS WE COMPLETED 64 REQUESTS. OUR CURRENT BACKLOG IS 600 REQUESTS. PLEASE KNOW THAT OUR CREWS ARE WORKING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO REMOVE, REMOVE THIS DEBRIS. AS WE PIVOT TO ADDRESS THE AFTERMATH OF THE STORM, WE'RE MOVING FROM REACTIVE WORK TO A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH OF REMOVING DEBRIS. WE HAVE NOW RECONFIGURED OUR OPERATIONAL STAFF TO FOCUS ON DEBRIS REMOVAL TO INCREASE THE NUMBERS FROM 29 TO 41 CREWS. WE HAVE AUGMENTED CITY TEAMS WITH OUR FORESTRY CONTRACTOR WHO ASSISTS, WHO ALSO ASSIST US WITH COMPLEX DEBRIS. REMOVAL TEAMS ARE ASSIGNED TO SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHICAL SECTORS TO ENSURE DEBRIS HAS BEEN MOVED OUT OF THE WAY ONCE THE SECTOR HAS BEEN MARKED, COMPLETE STAFF WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE ASSIGNMENTS AND COORDINATE WITH AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY FOR DEBRIS PICKUP. I'D LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS HAVE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH US THROUGH THIS STORM, AS WELL AS THE TEXAS FORESTRY SERVICE, WHICH HAD HELPED US ADDRESS SOME OF THE MORE COMPLEX SITUATIONS WE'VE HAD WITH DOWN TREES. RESIDENTS SHOULD STILL CONTINUE TO REPORT DOWN TREES ON THE RIGHT OF WAY BY CALLING THREE 11. THE REQUEST WILL BE ROUTED TO OUR SECTOR CREWS TO MAKE SURE THE EFFORT IS COMPLETE. ONCE AGAIN, RESIDENTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE LIMBS THAT FALL IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY, ESPECIALLY AS WE EXPECT WIND AND RAIN OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. PLEASE LEAVE THIS WORK TO OUR CREWS AND OUR CONTRACTORS WHO ARE WORKING QUICKLY TO RESPOND. THAT'S THE END OF MY REPORT. GOOD AFTERNOON, RICHARD MENDOZA, INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT. UH, THE AU AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT COMMENCED EMERGENCY OPERATIONS ON JANUARY 30TH. IN THE ENSUING WEEK, APPROXIMATELY 40% OF OUR UM, UH, TRAFFIC SIGNALS WERE IMPACTED BY THE STORM, UH, EITHER BY LOSS OF COMMUNICATIONS OR LOSS OF POWER. SINCE THAT TIME, OUR CREWS HAVE BEEN WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK AND WE'VE RE BEEN ABLE TO RESTORE, UH, ALL BUT FIVE TRAFFIC SIGNAL INTERSECTIONS AND ONE PEDESTRIAN HYBRID BEACON CROSSING SIGNAL. UH, THOSE FIVE. WE WORK CLOSELY WITH, UH, AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT TO PRIORITIZE PROVIDING BATTERY BACKUP. SO THEY ARE AT LEAST ON FLASH OPERATIONS AND WE'RE STAYING IN CLOSE COORDINATION WITH AUSTIN ENERGY TO PRIORITIZE RESTORING FULL POWER TO THOSE INTERSECTIONS. WE ALSO WERE REPLACED, UH, TWO KNOCKDOWN STREET SIGNS AND A COUPLE OF PEDESTRIAN CROSSING BEACONS. WE CONTINUE TO URGE OUR COMMUNITY, UH, TO REPORT ANY DARK SIGNALS THAT MIGHT BE IMPACTED BY TONIGHT STORMS BY CALLING THREE 11 AND TO TREAT ALL DARK INTERSECTIONS AS FOUR-WAY STOPS. UH, ADDITIONALLY, SCHOOL ZONES, UH, FLASHERS, WERE AWARE OF ONLY TWO THAT ARE NOT OPERATIONAL AT THIS MOMENT, BUT WE ASKED THE COMMUNITY TO TREAT ALL SCHOOL, UH, SCHOOL ZONES, UH, DURING SCHOOL HOURS AS OPERATIONAL AND OBEY THE APPROPRIATE SPEED LIMITS. SO IN TOTAL, AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT MAINTAINS OVER 1100 SIGNALIZE INTERSECTIONS, AND I WANT TO THANK, UH, THE CREWS AND OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS FOR ENSURING THAT WE'RE OUT THERE KEEPING THE COMMUNITY SAFE AND RESTORING THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS AS TIMELY AS POSSIBLE. WE KNOW THE WEATHER IS A CONCERN. UH, COULD WE GO INTO FURTHER DETAIL ABOUT SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU THINK IT MAY POSE? WILL CRUISE PERHAPS HAVE TO BE, UH, PULLED OUT OF THE FIELD IF CONDITIONS OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS GET A GET A LITTLE CRAZY? DO YOU WANNA ANSWER THAT? YOU CAN ANSWER. UM, FOR THE ELECTRICAL RESTORATION, UH, IT WOULD HAVE TO GET PRETTY SIGNIFICANT FOR THE CREWS TO BE, UH, PULLED BACK. THESE LINE WORKERS ARE USED TO WORKING IN INCLEMENT WEATHER AND THEY WILL CONTINUE TO RESTORE POWER AS LONG AS THEY CAN DO SO SAFELY. SO SAFETY, OF COURSE, IS THEIR, UH, TOP PRIORITY. UM, I'D LIKE TO GIVE A TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED RELAY OUR MESSAGE WITH REGARD TO NOT IMPEDING THE [00:10:01] WORK OF OUR, OUR, UM, LINE WORKERS AND OUR LINE CREWS THAT ARE OUT THERE, UM, MAKING SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE SPACE THEY NEED AND THAT THEY'RE SAFE AND, UM, NOT THREATENING THEM. UM, THAT MESSAGE HAS GONE WELL AND, UH, WE'VE SEEN A REDUCTION IN THOSE INCIDENTS AND MORE THANK YOUS AND WAVES AND, AND SHOUT OUTS TO THE CREWS. SO THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT MESSAGING. IT'S CLEARING THE DEBRIS. I'M CLEARING DEBRIS DURING THIS MORNING'S BRIEF TO OUR CREWS. WE ADVISED 'EM OF THE WEATHER. THEY'VE BEEN EQUIPPED WITH WEATHER EQUIPMENT AND, UH, OTHER SAFETY DEVICES SO WE CAN MAKE SURE THEY'RE SAFE. WE WANT TO CONTINUE THROUGH. WE DON'T SEE IT AS BEING IMPEDING. IT MIGHT SLOW US DOWN A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, THE RIGHT OF WAY IS SAFE AND PASSABLE. SO THEY'LL BE STILL FOCUSED DOING, UH, 10 HOUR SHIFTS EVERY DAY. AND CITY MANAGER CONKA, I KNOW YOU APOLOGIZE FOR ANY SHORTCOMINGS. WE SAW THAT EMAIL, WE SAW WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY. I THINK SOME OF OUR VIEWERS ARE ALSO WONDERING IN THAT, UM, RELEASE YOU MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, IMPROVING THE RESPONSE AND DEVELOPING SOME STRATEGIES MOVING FORWARD. ARE THERE ANY IDEAS AS TO WHAT THOSE COULD ENTAIL, YOU KNOW, AS YOU LOOK FORWARD TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS, THAT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN? YEAH, WELL, WITH ANY, UH, WINTER STORM EVENTS OR ANY WEATHER EVENTS, UH, FRANKLY ANY EMERGENCY THAT OUR CITY FACES, WE ARE ALWAYS DOING, UH, CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT, HOW WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING BETTER IN THE FUTURE. UH, WE'VE LEARNED A LOT OF THOSE LESSONS FROM PAST EVENTS AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THE SAME. UH, WITH THIS EVENT. MR. KR, WE KNOW RIGHT NOW YOUR JOB PERFORMANCE IS UNDER REVIEW. DO YOU FEEL LIKE THERE SHOULD BE SOME ACCOUNTABILITY ACROSS THE BOARD HERE? UM, LIKE OTHER LEADERS OF THE CITY AND THE COUNTY SHOULD ALSO BE UNDER REVIEW AS WELL? AGAIN, WE ARE FOCUSED PRIMARILY AND SOLELY ON RESTORING POWER TO THOSE CITIZENS AND CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED. AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE RESPONDING TO THIS EVENT. UH, WE CAN HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS FOR A LATER DAY, BUT I JUST WANNA GET INTO SPECIFICS ABOUT WHAT'S MOVING FORWARD. I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THAT OF COURSE YOU ALWAYS REVIEW, BUT WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT COULD BE DONE DIFFERENT? I THINK A LOT, LOT OF THE VIEWERS RIGHT NOW WANT TO KNOW, AND NOT JUST VIEWERS, PEOPLE ACROSS AUSTIN WANT TO KNOW, OKAY, DOES IT COME DOWN TO BUDGET? DOES IT COME DOWN TO SOME OF THE THINGS YOU MENTIONED? YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THOSE IN SPECIFIC THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENT? SURE. WELL, WE'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE POLICY CHANGES THAT MIGHT BE MADE IN TERMS OF, OF HOW WE WOULD DO, UH, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT. UH, WE CAN TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN BETTER PREPARE OUR COMMUNITY FOR EVENTS LIKE THIS IN THE FUTURE TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE KNOWS ON WHAT THEY CAN DO TO KEEP THEIR, THEIR HOME SAFE, THEIR PET SAFE TO BE PREPARED FOR THESE BECAUSE MOTHER NATURE IS FIERCE AND WE KNOW THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL AND WE NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB AS A COMMUNITY, UH, TO PREPARE FOR THESE IN THE FUTURE. I ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS A SIGNIFICANT EVENT AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, ON THAT WEDNESDAY MORNING PEOPLE SAW THERE WERE, THERE WERE TREES DOWN AND THERE WAS ICE ON TREES, UM, BUT THEY DIDN'T KNOW THE EXTENT OF IT. AND SO SOMETHING THAT I REALLY TAKE AWAY IS HOW CAN WE DO A BETTER JOB OF SHOWCASING TO OUR COMMUNITY THE, OF THE DAMAGE THAT REALLY WAS IMPACTING ALL PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY. AND SO YOU COULD SEE OUT IN FRONT OF YOUR WINDOW, BUT YOU DIDN'T NECESSARILY KNOW, UH, THE EXTENT OF THAT DAMAGE UNTIL MAYBE A COUPLE DAYS LATER. SO I THINK ENSURING THAT WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION OUT SOONER WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT I'M REALLY FOCUSED ON GOING FORWARD. THANKS VERY MUCH EVERYONE. CITY MANAGER COMPOUND. MIKE COLEMAN WITH THE STATEMENT HERE. UM, WE'VE BEEN HEARING FROM E EMTS, UH, WHO SAY THAT SOME OF THE EMS STATIONS WERE WITHOUT POWER AND SOME OF THEM DIDN'T HAVE BACKUP GENERATORS, UH, HAVE CREATED A LOT OF PROBLEMS FOR THEM. SOME OF THEM ARE, YOU KNOW, WARMING UP IN THEIR CARS OR, OR EVEN SOME OF 'EM SITTING INTENSE. THEY COULDN'T MAKE THEIR FOOD THERE AT THE PLACE WHERE THEY NEED TO BE, AND THEY'RE ALREADY, UH, OVERTAXED AND EXHAUSTED. IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING, THERE WAS AN AFTER ACCIDENT REPORT AFTER A URI THAT SAID THAT, UH, ALL OF THESE SHOULD HAVE ADEQUATE BACKUP GENERATORS THAT APPARENTLY THAT WAS NOT THE CASE THIS TIME AROUND. UM, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT HAPPENED THERE, LIKE BETWEEN YURI AND NOW? UM, WHY WE DID, WHY WE HAD EM, EMS CENTERS? YEAH. WELL, THEY CERTAINLY ARE PART OF OUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, AND SO WE WOULD WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY GET UP AND RUNNING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I CAN'T COMMENT ON THE SPECIFIC INSTANCES THAT YOU REFERRED TO, BUT THAT'LL BE PART OF OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW. MS. AFF. ONE MORE QUESTION. UM, YOU MENTIONED GOING FROM LARGEST TO SMALLEST, THE COMPLEXITY OF SOME OF THESE SITUATIONS. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE 5,000 TO 6,000 LEFT, CAN YOU JUST KIND OF BE SPECIFIC ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ARE THOSE THE MOST COMPLEX LEFT OR, OR WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE FOR THOSE LAST CUSTOMERS? UM, SO AS WE GET THROUGH THOSE, AND WE'VE HAD SOME OF THESE, UM, OUTAGES AS A, THE CREWS GET OUT IN THE FIELD, THEY'RE FINDING THAT THEY HAVE MULTIPLE LINE FUSES, UM, SIGNIFICANT VEGETATION, UH, THAT WE'RE HAVE TO WORK THROUGH. SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS STAGE THE CREWS SO THAT THE VEGETATION CREWS GET OUT THERE, UM, FIRST AND WHEN WE WERE DOING THE LONG SEGMENTS OF LINES, WE HAD TO READJUSTED HOW WE WERE, UM, ADDRESSING THOSE. AND WE SENT LARGE CREWS OUT TOGETHER AND THEY COULD JUST KIND OF, THE LINE CREW OR THE VEG CREWS COULD JUST GO AND THEN THE RESTORATION CREWS COULD JUST FOLLOW. BUT THESE ARE MORE COMPLICATED IN THAT THE VEG CREWS CAN DO A LITTLE BIT, THE RESTORATION CAN GET. SO WE'RE GONNA, INSTEAD OF HAVING THESE LARGE CREWS GROUPED TOGETHER, WE'RE GONNA GET THE VEGETATION CREWS FURTHER OUT IN FRONT AND THEN WE'RE GONNA BRING, UM, THE RESTORATION CREWS IN. AND SO AS WE GET DOWN TO THESE SMALLER, SMALLER [00:15:01] OUTAGES, THEY'RE GONNA BE, THEY'RE GONNA END UP BEING SPREAD MORE BROADLY ACROSS THE, UM, SERVICE TERRITORY. AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE SMALLER CREWS THAT WILL THEN ADDRESS THOSE BECAUSE THEY'RE SMALLER OUTAGES AND THAT WILL JUST SLOW DOWN THE PROCESS AND, AND MAKE IT TAKE MORE TIME. SO STILL SUNDAY THE 12TH LOOKING AT FOR THE MAJORITY OF CUSTOMERS, BUT YOU CAN SEE HOW SIGNIFICANT, UM, SINCE WE CAME OUT WITH THAT ANNOUNCEMENT, THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT ONLINE. AND HOPEFULLY WE DON'T HAVE FURTHER IMPEDIMENTS AS A RESULT OF THE CURRENT WEATHER THAT'S COME IN. UM, AND THE CREWS WILL CONTINUE AROUND THE CLOCK AS LONG AS IT'S, UH, SAFE FOR THEM TO DO SO. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU EVERYONE. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.